Some street views of 2nd Street.
So basically, the area at the edge of the stucco here over to the brick wall is going to be enclosed just at the first floor level, and the Baker's Alley or passageway from the front to the rear of the property is also going to be extinguished so that the homes will be fully connected on the first floor.
Again, just another perspective to show you the depth of the rear yard.
Again, just another perspective to show you the depth of the rear yard.
We have no issues.
We have no issues with the depth of the rear yard, just the open space issue.
With this area right here, I'm showing you on my cursor between the two properties is going to be closed off, added to the kitchen, only up to the first floor.
Just some more photographs of the front of the building.
The two lots have already been consolidated.
But I think the best way to look at what we're trying to do here is to show you the first floor plan.
This is the only floor plan that is going to be adjusted.
So basically, the homes are connected in the living and dining area.
This is the kitchen, and the proposal is to have an addition 5 feet by 12 feet added so that you can have nice circulation in the kitchen for Ms. Norton.
Again, here's the site plan showing you the addition so that the homes will be fully connected
on the first floor.
And this would be, again, the first floor.
We're not touching the basement, the second floor, or the third floor.
This is a cross-section view, looking at it from the side. Again, first story, 12 feet high by 5 feet.
Mr. Chairman, this is a de minimis dimensional variance request. We're not affecting anyone else's lighter air. It's in harmony with the code. We're not impairing the development of any adjacent property.
We're basically adding some additional square footage
for the use of the residents of this property
to make it more habitable for them
and more convenient for Ms. Norton.
With that, I'd like to close my presentation
and have my client adopt the testimony.
Ms. Norton, can you unmute yourself?
Could you state your name, please,
and spell it for the court reporter?
here i see no hands up at this time okay um miss norton uh you're on the call can you
unmute yourself raise your hand chair we have someone with the name kirby smith who just put
their hand up that's fine
hi could you say your name please unmute yourself and wait for the chair
hello hi state your name and spell for the court reporter please uh kirby smith k-i-r-b-y
s-m-i-t-h do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
yes proceed counsel mr smith did you just hear my presentation concerning 705 south second street
yes and you are one of the homeowners of this property yes and if you had the opportunity to
testify would you adopt my testimony as your own and as true and correct yes thank you mr smith
questions from the board no mr chairman no mr chairman no mr chairman questions or comments
from the virtual audience chair i see no hands at the sign planning commission thank you chair
bergman ian hegarty for the philadelphia city planning commission board members the comprehensive
plan recommends no change to the existing rsa 5 single-family zoning at this location
the proposed variance we agree is minimal and does not conflict with the purpose and spirit
of the zoning code the planning commission recommends that the board grant the variance
thank you mi2022-004-795-705 south second i vote yes thomas halloween my vote is yes
ishmael shaheed my vote is yes thank you counsel thank you mr chairman
number seven mi 2022 004 783 554 east penn street alan knockamson is the attorney
council woman bass takes a position of non-opposition
Chair, Mr. Nackamson is coming back in as a panelist now.
Letter of Faith Community Development Corporation indicating support from the majority of the near neighbors, but opposition from other participating RCOs.
The applicant also provided a petition of support from 13 neighbors in the 500 block of East Penn Street with two form letters of support from neighbors.
with two form letters of support from neighbors.
Thank you.
Mr. Nockamson, can you please state your name or spell for a court?
I'm Nockamson of Nockamson, P-C-A-L-A-N, last name Nockamson, N-O-C-H-U-M-S-O-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client in relationship to the property?
Oh, yeah. My client is DAG Investment and Development LLC, and then the virtual audience is Deanna Miller. It's representative.
Okay. Our vice chair has just a few questions.
Good morning, counsel. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to his accuracy?
Have you emailed all the required documents to our offices within five days in advance of this hearing?
Thank you, Ms. Nakamson. Please proceed and share your screen.
All right. Thank you.
All right. So I'm here to present 554 East Penn Street. During my presentation,
we'll review the notice of refusal, the correspondence from the Faden Community
Development Corporation, the petition that we circulated to nearby neighbors, as well as
a few letters of support from nearby neighbors, a permit showing another property nearby that
is multifamily in nature, showing that it's not out of character to have multifamily use in this
part of town, maps of the area, photographs of the property, interior photographs of similar
renovations that my client has completed in Philadelphia, just to give the board an idea
of the quality of workmanship and craftsmanship that would be expected of this renovation project.
Our architectural plans and drawings, our RCO meeting notice, we met twice with the community.
One where we did the formal mailing, and unfortunately no one showed up.
We were asked to have a supplemental meeting, but simply flyer in the neighborhood, which we did.
And that's the basis of our vote.
Our applications for appeal that we've filed with the Zoning Board of Adjustment,
or deed to the property, showing that debt, investment, and development LLC is the owner
of the property. A certificate of tax clearance showing that we're in good standing from a tax
perspective with the City of Philadelphia. And again, in the virtual audience is Deanna Miller,
the representative of the owner. So our notice of refusal. So my client purchased this property
recently. It was configured as a two-family dwelling. Given the amount of renovations they
wanted to do in the property, they were asking for three units. They met with the community
and there was some hesitation to add that additional unit, as you saw in the letter
that was issued by the coordinating RCO, the Faith Community Development Corporation.
So based on that commentary and our willingness to work with the neighborhood,
we would ask for a proviso maximum of two units as part of that.
But again, this was a two-family dwelling when we purchased it.
And, you know, that's why we're asking for this multifamily use variance.
So here's the letter or the email that we received from the faith CDC.
In it, they recognize that the nearby neighbors, a majority of them, support this project.
My understanding is that there may have been some issues with the vote town originally. It was unanimous support. And then after time, it diminished to majority support. I think there may be one of the neighbors in the virtual audience who's nearby who actually voted for this, who may give some light and shed some light to that.
But most importantly, this was a multifamily structure when we purchased it.
The neighbors next door to us confirmed that that has been a multistructure for some time.
And because of that, they're in support of it.
There was also a discussion during the community meeting about fire safety and prevention and suppression.
Um, my client, uh, uh, these are affordable houses, um, or they, they, they specialize
in affordable housing.
So they have other governmental requirements or restrictions other than L and I, they have
PHA that regularly inspects these properties.
Um, so from a fire suppression and protection point of view, um, we're, you know, we're
going to be in compliance with L&I, but also PHA. But there was a discussion of having Jacob's
Ladders or Jacob Ladder on the third floor on the outside of the property. And
Jacob Ladder on the third floor in the outside of the property. And again, from a proviso standpoint, I don't know if it's an enforceable proviso, but we would have no problem and no issue having a proviso installation of a Jacob Ladder on the third floor for fire protection and suppression.
So that's basically the community meeting in a nutshell.
What we did was we reached out to the nearby neighbors.
And this map shows the addresses that are on the petition.
There's an additional address of a nearby neighbor that signed our form letter of support.
But as you can see, we're number one here.
There are 11 other addresses here.
The person to the left and right of us are in support of this project, and many individuals on this block are in support of this project.
So, again, between the community vote as well as this petition, which has 11 addresses, plus two additional addresses of nearby neighbors with our form letter of support, we believe that there is overwhelming support for this affordable housing project.
and then again just to show it's not out of character we did review this the city's records
uh and at 5 30 east penn street which is down the street from us it is a multi-family structure
and then maps of the area we again we're at the end of a cul-de-sac um and uh just showing where
we are in the neighborhood uh and behind us is actually a nursing facility which i guess you
say it's multifamily in nature as well and then this is a google map perspective and photographs
of the property uh first of all i want to show that we probably posted the property uh but this
is the front of the property it's a three-story structure we're not changing the structure in any
respect we were hoping to increase the occupancy to three units uh but we understand what the
neighborhood's saying in terms of density um and so we're just going to keep the the floor plan
that's that currently exists but obviously do significant renovations in the process and then
this is east pen to the right of the property and again this is in the nurse's facility that's down
the street from us and then east pen to the left of the property and then just to show you the
quality of craftsmanship and workmanship just i try to get my clients i ask my clients to provide
us pictures of living rooms kitchens bathrooms just to show you what you would expect from them
on this project. So again, here's a kitchen, here's a living room, a lot of light in there.
What they do is they take older properties and restore them to its previous significance.
And then just our plans and drawings. These plans are actually for the three-unit dwelling,
but again, what we plan to do is only have two units with the current configuration that
currently exists. And then our RCO meeting notice. So this is the second meeting notice that we
actually hand-delivered at the request of the community group because the first meeting was
poorly attended. They wanted to have a supplemental meeting. And then here's an affidavit from Deanna
Miller, who will be testifying today, acknowledging that she had it hand-delivered to all the
affected properties. And then here's our first meeting notice, which we did the way pursuant to
the code, where we had a meeting on January 10th at 6 p.m. We were asked in the envelope or the
address notice portion to highlight the fact that this was an important zoning meeting and that you
should open up the envelope. 106 addresses were notified of this meeting. These are the addresses
that were notified. Proof of mailing to those addresses. Our application for appeal that
my client filed with the ZBA, including the notice of refusal and the project information form,
RD to the property showing that DAG Investment and Development LLC is the owner of the property,
And then finally, our certificate of tax claims. There is a balance of $1,536.98, but that's for the 2023 tax year, which those taxes are not yet due. So we are in compliance otherwise. With that being said, I would ask that Ms. Miller virtually raise her hand. She can be sworn in, and then I can ask her a few questions.
chair we have someone with the phone number ending in 3888 is that your client mr knockamson
um i'm not 100 sure um but i know she's in the virtual audience okay bring that personal
person with the phone number ending in 3888 please unmute
Person with the phone number ending in 3888, please unmute yourself and wait for the chair.
teachers.
Ms. Miller?
Ms. Miller?
Caller with the phone number ending in 3888.
i see that okay i see a person keeps muting and unmuting themselves
miss miller
counsel you're an officer of the court we will take your test money questions from the board
no mr chairman
no mr chairman questions or comments from the virtual audience
I see no hands, Chair.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chair Bergman.
Ian Hegarty for the Philadelphia City Planning Commission.
Board members, the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing RSA 5 single-family zoning at this location.
However, the proposed use, as revised, is consistent with the existing physical configuration of the building.
The City Planning Commission recommends that the Board grant the variance with proviso no more than two dwelling units.
MI 2022-004-783-554-East Penn Street, I vote yes with proviso. Maximum two dwelling units.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes with proviso.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes with proviso.
Thank you.
Thank you, counsel.
I agree with that.
Let's see here.
some here so number
number 13 mi 2022
004-793-3701 mellon street meredith ferlegger is the attorney
RECOMMENDATION OF SUPPORT FROM MANSWA CIVIC ASSOCIATION
CHAIR, MS. FERLINGER IS COMING BACK IN AS A PANELIST NOW
GOOD MORNING, MR. CHAIRMAN GOOD MORNING.
COULD YOU STATE YOUR NAME, PLEASE, AND SPELL IT FOR THE COURT REPORTER?
We're Meredith Ferliger, F-E-R-L-E-G-E-R with Dolworth Paxson, 1500 Market Street, Suite 3500E.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client in a relationship to the property?
Certainly. My client is 3405 Wallace LLC, the owner of the property, and that LLC is represented here today by Rami Shreem.
our vice chair has a few questions for you good morning council do you agree with the reading of
the refusal and stipulate to his accuracy i certainly do have you emailed all the required
documents five days in advance to this hearing i did yes thank you please proceed and share your
screen. Thank you. I believe that you should now see my exhibit packet. The request before
the board today concerns two adjoining properties in Mantua located at 3701 through 03 Mellon
Street, which are proposed to be consolidated. This proposal did receive overwhelming support
from Mantua Civic Association, and that letter of support is in your packet and up on the screen
at tab 16. Allow me to first orient you to the property itself. As you can see here in the
aerials, which are at exhibit 10, this property sits between North 37th Street and North 38th
Street in Mantua West Philadelphia. These aerials are slightly outdated, thank you Google, but you
can see that this block has recently undergone a fairly complete redevelopment with only about
about three older structures even still remaining on this particular block.
3701-03 Mellon sits right at the corner of this block with the intersection of North 37th Street.
If I turn to the photographs at Exhibit 17, you will see that the two vacant lots at the corner here make up 3701-03 Mellon.
make up 3701-03 Mellon. Now in the next photograph, you'll start to see some of the newer structures that have been erected on this block.
As I move a little bit further, you'll see the community center that was actually developed on this block as well, which is below a multifamily dwelling above.
And again, you can see that a little bit more closely here in a view from the other side of the street.